Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
April 15, 2015
Vol. 40, No. 8
April – Hawit`an – Spring - Wawaxam
WSFPI, Council continue work on mill plan
The Warm Springs Forest Prod-
ucts Industries board and manage-
ment met again last week with Tribal
Council, proposing a plan to keep
the mill operating.
The scenario as proposed by
WSFPI calls for reducing the
workforce at the mill from 104 to
85, plus a 10 percent salary decrease
for the remaining employees, among
other cost-saving measures. The mill
would operate on a split shift, mean-
ing that one crew would work all
aspects of the milling process.
WSFPI and Tribal Council were
scheduled to meet on the plan again
this Tuesday afternoon (after the
print deadline for this publication).
Council, the BIA and WSFPI
have been working the past several
months on a plan to keep the mill
in operation. All of the remaining
options have a downside.
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
Log graders at the mill yard earlier in the week.
Shutting the mill down would in-
crease local unemployment, and
leave major outstanding debts to the
Credit enterprise and the Business
Investment Revolving Fund, among
others.
But maintaining the current op-
eration is no longer possible. The
BIA cannot sign-off on new tim-
ber sales until a plan is in place
that compensates the tribes for
the timber.
WSFPI in 2014 was behind
in its payments to the tribes for
the timber.
Ensuring that the tribes re-
ceive fair market value for the
logs is an essential part of any
future plan of operation, as en-
terprise revenue funds the Senior
Pension Fund and per capita,
among other aspects of the tribal
budget.
Council members say the
WSFPI payments to the tribes
should be at the top of the pri-
ority list of payments, rather than
at the bottom.
The mill down-sizing proposal
also includes a proposal to mod-
ernize the mill operation.
Pageant
Time
by Alyssa Macy
Miss Warm Springs 2015
Suzanne Slockish McConville is
a contestant for the Miss Indian
World title.
The pageant will be held in
Albuquerque, New Mexico,
April 21-25, during the Gather-
ing of Nations Powwow.
Suzanne is the daughter of
Laura Slockish and Alfred
McConville Jr. and is finishing
up her first year at Eastern
Washington University, studying
criminal justice.
As Miss Warm Springs, she’s
attended numerous events in the
community including local New
Years Eve’s festivities, Lincoln’s
Powwow, the Museum at Warm
Springs Honor Dinner, and
most recently the Celilo Wy-Am
Salmon Feast and Powwow. This
will be the first national pageant
that she has ever competed in.
Miss Warm Springs 2015 Suzanne Slockish McConville
State pot law raises prosecution issue on reservation
Starting on July 1, Oregon law
enforcement will not prosecute a
person who is over the age of 21
and in possession of up to an ounce
of marijuana.
This raises a law enforcement
issue on the reservation, where the
tribal criminal code follows federal
law. Marijuana remains a Schedule
1 Controlled Substance under fed-
eral law, and under the tribal code.
Starting in July, a person could
be in legal possession of marijuana
in the state, and then be in violation
upon traveling onto the reservation,
such as on Highway 26.
A non-tribal member with less
than an ounce of marijuana could
be cited for a civil violation on the
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
50 cents
Ventures updates
Progress with
UAV, carbon
projects
The tribes’ computer support
enterprise, the Office of Informa-
tion Systems, is taking on the range
management function of the Un-
manned Aerial Vehicle program.
The tribal enterprise Geo Visions
is the contracting entity for the UAV
program on the reservation.
An area in the Seekseequa Dis-
trict has been cleared by tribal Land
Use and the Branch of Natural Re-
sources as a test range site. The site
is on the Metolius Bench in the
southeast area of the reservation.
The UAV range management
team will ensure that the tests are
conducted in compliance with regu-
lation. The contracting entity works
with and recruits the UAV compa-
nies that are in need of a testing
site.
The UAV program is a project
of Warm Springs Ventures, as ap-
proved last year by Tribal Council.
Warm Springs is one of three
FAA approved UAV test ranges in
Oregon. The others are at
Pendleton, which just received a
$545,000 state investment for UAV
infrastructure work; and Tillamook.
A website is up and running with
information on the three test ranges
in Oregon. The site is:
Uastestranges.soaroregon.com
The site has information on the
flying conditions of the three sites,
the geography, access, etc.
Carbon project
Alyssa Macy/Spilyay
See PAGEANT on 12
P.O. Box 870
Warm Springs, OR 97761
reservation, and a tribal member
could face a criminal charge.
The U.S. Attorney would make
the decision whether to prosecute
the person, said Stan Suenaga, gen-
eral manager of Warm Springs Pub-
lic Safety.
Tribal Council meanwhile has
appointed a team to look at the im-
plications of the state marijuana le-
galization law. Any economic poten-
tial of the new state law is a main
task of the team.
The law enforcement aspect of
the new law is a policy decision for
the membership and Tribal Coun-
cil, said Pi-Ta Pitt, member of the
team appointed by Council.
The director of the U.S. Depart-
ment of Justice last year provided
a guideline for federal prosecutors
in states that have legalized mari-
juana.
With these requests in mind, the
director of the U.S. Department of
Justice provided some guidance to
all U.S. Attorneys, their staff and
tribal liaisons. “Indian Country in-
cludes numerous reservations and
tribal lands with diverse sovereign
governments, many of which
traverse state borders and federal
districts,” the memo reads.
“Given this, the U.S. Attorneys
recognize that effective federal law
enforcement in Indian Country, in-
cluding marijuana enforcement, re-
quires consultation with the tribal
partners in the districts, and flex-
ibility to confront the particular,
yet sometimes divergent, public
safety issues that can exist on any
single reservation.”
The U.S. Attorneys, then,
should work with each of the
tribes in determining how to pro-
ceed with the handling of mari-
juana cases.
The Department of Justice
memo also refers to an earlier
document, “the Cole Memoran-
dum,” that provides guidance to
U.S. Attorneys in handling off-
reservation marijuana cases in
states where it is legal.
See POT LAW on 7
The Branch of Natural Re-
sources is working on phase 2 of
the carbon sequestration project.
This includes completing an inven-
tory of the forest resources in-
volved, conducting a third-party re-
view, and preparing the carbon cred-
its for market.
The carbon sequestration project
could generate significant revenue.
The project is under Ventures, car-
ried out by the Branch of Natural
Resources.
Seniors Day
turning 25
Warm Springs Honor Seniors
Day will celebrate its Twenty-Fifth
Anniversary this spring.
Honor Seniors Day is set for
Friday, May 8, at the Agency
Longhouse. The day begins at 10
a.m., and goes till 6 p.m.
The agenda is full of fun, laugh-
ter, door prizes and entertainment
for all Elders. Events are through-
out the day, until dinner time.
Shuttles will be available to and from
the museum and casino.
Registration starts at 9 a.m. at the
Longhouse. For information call the
Warm Springs Senior Wellness Cen-
ter at 541-553-3313.